“Kreisel ensures that its battery pack offers maximum capacity with minimum weight. The company features the safest lithium-ion cells with a guaranteed service life of 400,000 kms: This makes it unique and remains the lightest battery on the market.”

Arnie goes electric in converted Mercedes G-Wagen

Austrian firm Kreisel is best known converting and upgrading electric vehicles from major German car makers, including Volkswagen, Porsche and Mercedes. A recent highlight being the Mercedes G-Wagen delivered to the actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The off-road vehicle was converted in just two months and claims to have a realistic electric range of 186miles. This is achieved using a 80kwh battery pack weighing in at 510 kg. The batteries are spread throughout the car and can be found under the bonnet and in the rear, where it replaces the fuel tank.

To meet the global demand for battery packs, the firm, owned by three brothers Philipp, Johann jun. and Mark, is currently erecting its first factory for large scale production in Rainbach, Austria. The 7,000m2 facility will open in September this year at a cost of €14m. Additionally at range of other locations the business’ storage battery packs will be produced under licence by partners who include car manufacturers, fleet operators, and cab or transport companies.

Kreisel unique design is even carried through to the new production site.

The home energy storage system named MAVERO is available in four different sizes from 8 up to 22 kWh. The Kreisel Home Energy Storage does not need a conventional display, but communicates with innovative light effects.

Kreisel Electric CEO Christian Schlögl said:

“The investment costs for our new operations were around €14 million euros. This helped pay for an integrated 1,000 kWh battery storage system and a 200 kWp photovoltaic system, which will ensure our new production facility can complete uninterrupted work for a week. With 70 current employees, Kreisel can now work on 42 electromobility projects. By the end of 2018, our company hopes to have expanded its workforce to 200.”

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